Qantas Flight Grounded After Bedbug Outbreak on Rome to Perth Route

An outbreak of bedbugs aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner forced Qantas to cancel a 17-hour flight from Rome to Perth on Saturday, October 12, 2026, delaying passengers by up to two days. Passengers travelling on the preceding October 9 service from Perth to Rome first reported being bitten by the insects in economy class, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The airline provided affected travellers with accommodation and rebooked them on alternative flights within 48 hours of their original departure time. Qantas stated that its engineers and maintenance teams performed a deep clean of the aircraft after identifying the issue on a small number of economy seats, offering a sincere apology for the disruption.

Bites and Antihistamine Shortages on the Perth to Rome Route

During the nearly 17-hour journey from Perth to Rome, passengers who complained of bug bites were given antihistamines on medical advice, according to reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald. Supplies of the medication reportedly ran out before the flight landed. The non-stop seasonal route, which connects Australia and Italy, had been extended by Qantas from May 3 to October 23 to add 40 extra services and nearly 10,000 seats.

Bedbugs are tiny wingless parasites measuring about five millimetres that feed exclusively on blood, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Victorian government’s Better Health Channel notes that while bedbugs can harbour diseases in their bodies, transmission to humans is highly unlikely. Their bites typically cause a large, reddened, and itchy weal that fades to a red spot. Bed bugs are not believed to transmit diseases to humans, according to the Victorian government’s Better Health Channel website. Bed bug bites are painless, Better Health says, and some people do not react to the bites, but for others the bites can become itchy and swell into reddened weals [or welts].

Grounding the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for a Deep Clean

Following the complaints, the return service, designated as QF6 from Rome to Perth on Saturday, was cancelled. A Qantas spokesperson told the BBC that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was grounded to allow maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft. Qantas maintains that its aircraft cabins are cleaned regularly and that planes are disinfected every 50 days as a standard precaution, though a deep clean to rid a cabin of bedbugs requires fumigation and takes the aircraft out of service.

While the NHS website notes that bedbug bites do not usually cause serious health problems, the parasites are notoriously difficult and expensive to eliminate. Standard treatment for items exposed to bedbugs involves washing bedding, clothing, and curtains on a hot wash followed by a tumble dry, or sealing items in plastic bags and freezing them for three to four days.

Other Airlines Report Insect Infestations on Flights

The incident follows a series of similar transport disruptions involving insects across international transit networks. In 2017, British Airways apologised to a family travelling from Vancouver to London who were left covered in bug bites during an overnight flight. Turkish Airlines also faced public scrutiny last year following reports in the New York Times detailing bedbug infestations on multiple flights.